White tea

The story

White tea is young tea buds from the Camellia Sinensys plant and is only harvested for a few weeks each spring.White tea gets its name from a silvery type down that covers the leaves and unopened buds, known as “Bai Hao.” Most popular white tea plantation situated in Chinese Provinces Fujian and Yunnan. Bai Hao Ying Zhen, Bai Mu Dan from Fujian, Moon Light from Bai Hao from Yunnan. The leaves are generally picked in mid-March to early April and only on days when it is not rainy or humid. Just like champagne, white tea can only be called “white tea” if it comes from the Fujian province.

Production

Modern day harvesting and preparation of white tip tea is quite minimal and includes drying and withering of the leaves in one of several methods. These methods include heated vents, wind drying chambers or natural sunlight almost immediately after picking, preventing oxidization. Because of the minimalistic processing involved, many people refer to white tea as a “raw” tea and it is believed to have a higher amount of beneficial properties than green or black teas . The tea withering processes vary from region to region, and are very much influenced by the environment, both in terms of climate and local traditions.